Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it accepts the scientific findings by Professor Emeritus John Robinson of the Scottish Agricultural College, Aberdeen, of 29 November 1991 that in typical weather conditions 10% of the national sheepflock could die over the lambing season as a result of the current ban on fishmeal in ruminant feedstuff.

Ross Finnie: While the findings of Professor Robinson are of some interest, there are alternative sources of protein commercially available to producers that would prevent losses of this nature.

Alcohol Misuse

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people regularly drink above recommended limits.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: In 1998, 33% of men and 15% of women aged 16-64 reported drinking above recommended weekly limits (21 units for men and 14 units for women). Twenty-six per cent of all women and 44% of all men reported drinking more than twice the recommended daily benchmarks on their heaviest drinking day. This information is taken from the 1998 Scottish Health Survey , a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 10471).

Benefits

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the minimum level of subsistence is for individuals aged (a) 16 to 17, (b) 18 to 25 and (c) over 25, with (i) no dependants, (ii) one dependant and (iii) two or more dependants.

Iain Gray: Social security benefits and policy on minimum incomes are reserved to the UK Government. The Executive will, however, continue to work closely with UK ministers on these and other issues in the pursuit of our social justice agenda.

Central Heating

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the administration of its Central Heating Installation Programme will cost in total.

Iain Gray: The programme is administered by local authorities and housing associations for their own houses as part of the day to day administration of their stock. The amount of fees payable to Eaga for administering the programme in the private sector will depend on the number of systems installed, which in turn depends on the number of eligible households coming forward. It is therefore not possible at present to estimate the total cost, but fees for work in each dwelling will represent less than 7% of the average grant.

Construction Industry

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which minister is responsible for the construction industry.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I am the minister responsible for the construction industry as part of my portfolio for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of medicines per capita in Scotland is lower than in other EU countries and, if so, why this is.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Hospices

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18229 by Susan Deacon on 15 October 2001, what initiatives will be undertaken in 2002 to strengthen the relationship between the NHS and the hospice movement.

Hugh Henry: We welcome the close partnership which exists in Scotland between the NHS and the hospice movement, as it ensures that a comprehensive range of services is in place in response to patients' needs. We will continue to encourage hospices and the NHS to work together.

  Hospices will receive additional funding through NHS boards to take account of the impact on their running costs of the withdrawal of charitable relief on water and sewerage charges.

Housing

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it offers to local authorities on the appropriate level of reserve funds to hold in their General Funds, their Housing Revenue Accounts and any other funds, including Direct Labour Organisation accounts.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has not issued guidance on the maintenance of reserves by local authorities.

Judicial Appointments

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-22242 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 February 2002, whether the ranking of the candidates interviewed for appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice, as decided by the ad hoc Judicial Appointments Board in June 2001, applied in respect of those candidates recommended by the board to the First Minister to fill the judicial vacancy that arose following the appointment of Lord Gill as Lord Justice Clerk.

Mr Jim Wallace: The ad hoc board advised ministers on the suitability of candidates for appointment to the Supreme Court bench, and not for any particular vacancy on the bench.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the arrangements made for child witnesses within the criminal justice system.

Mr Jim Wallace: Officials from the Justice Department are currently chairing the Implementation Group set up to carry into effect the recommendations of the Lord Advocate's Working Group on Child Witness Support. These recommendations cover a wide range of issues related to the experience of children within the criminal justice system. One of the major recommendations relates to supporting children prior to and at court and highlights the role of a child witness officer. Another central recommendation tackles the task of improving the conduct of interviews and precognitions with young witnesses. The implementation of the recommendations seeks to adopt an approach to child witnesses which recognises their vulnerability and serves their particular interests within the existing criminal justice system.

  The Scottish Executive will also shortly be publishing a consultation paper looking at whether further changes to the law of evidence are required to assist vulnerable witnesses (including children). The paper will look at the current statutory definition of "vulnerable person" and discuss possible changes to the special measures available at the moment to assist such witnesses when giving evidence, as well as possible new special measures.

Justice

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fiscal fines were (a) offered and (b) accepted in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest available information shows that there were 2,973 fiscal fines offered and 2,014 fiscal fines accepted in North Lanarkshire in 2000-01. Breakdowns by constituency and by month are not available.

Justice

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fiscal fines were (a) offered and (b) accepted by persons arrested, taken into custody and charged in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons with a criminal record in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency have (a) been offered and (b) accepted fiscal fines in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Police

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers (a) should have been and (b) were available for operational duties at (i) Cumbernauld and (ii) Kilsyth police station in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers (a) should have been and (b) were available for operational duties at (i) Motherwell and (ii) Wishaw police station in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many police officers paraded for operational duties at (i) Cumbernauld and (ii) Kilsyth police station and (b) how many such officers at each station were required to patrol the streets unaccompanied, each given as an average per shift in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many police officers paraded for operational duties at (i) Motherwell and (ii) Wishaw police station and (b) how many such officers at each station were required to patrol the streets unaccompanied, each given as an average per shift in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

Police

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Cumbernauld and (b) Kilsyth police station have been the victims of assault whilst on duty in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Motherwell and (b) Wishaw police station have been the victims of assault whilst on duty in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Cumbernauld and (b) Kilsyth police station have taken sick leave after being victims of assault whilst on duty in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Motherwell and (b) Wishaw police station have taken sick leave after being the victims of assault whilst on duty in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Cumbernauld and (b) Kilsyth police stations have been required to take sick leave for any form of psychiatric illness in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers designated as being available for operational duties at (a) Motherwell and (b) Wishaw police stations have been required to take sick leave for any form of psychiatric illness in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) juveniles were arrested and taken into custody at (i) Cumbernauld and (ii) Kilsyth police station in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) juveniles were arrested and taken into custody at (i) Motherwell and (ii) Wishaw police station in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) juveniles arrested and taken into custody at (i) Cumbernauld and (ii) Kilsyth police station were (1) charged with an offence and (2) cautioned in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) juveniles arrested and taken into custody at (i) Motherwell and (ii) Wishaw police station were (1) charged with an offence and (2) cautioned in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many persons with a criminal record in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency have (a) been offered and (b) accepted fiscal fines on more than one occasion in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many juveniles in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency have (a) been offered a caution by the police and (b) accepted such cautions on more than one occasion in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many juveniles in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency have been arrested on more than one occasion in each of the last 12 months.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally.

Prescription Charges

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to re-examine and review the exemption list for prescription charges.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have no plans to do so.

Prison Service

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to provide sex offenders with learning disabilities with access to sex offender programmes while in (a) prison and (b) the community.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service runs a sex offender programme developed by HMPS specifically for sex offenders with borderline or learning disability problems. The programme is called Adapted STOP and runs for 70 sessions. It is being delivered at HMP Peterhead for adult sex offenders and HMYOI Polmont for young offenders.

Prison Service

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on developing and providing rehabilitation programmes in (a) prison and (b) the community for sex offenders who deny their crime.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  Apart from those who deny their offence completely, sex offenders who deny elements of their case are accepted for participation in SPS Sex Offender Programmes if they are prepared to attend, as research has shown that attendance in itself may help to address denial. There are no accredited or approved programmes currently provided in SPS specifically targeted at complete denial, although preliminary work is being carried out.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints the Scottish Prison Service received regarding any difficulties or incidents experienced during visits by visitors to sex offenders held in institutions that also held other categories of prisoner in each year since 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information is not collected.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the development application and the environment statement for the Milngavie to Larkhall rail extension will be finalised.

Lewis Macdonald: Orders confirmed by the UK Parliament in 1994 authorised development in connection with the Larkhall to Milngavie rail link, and empowered the British Railways Board to construct works and purchase land. Prior to this confirmation, an Environmental Statement was prepared in 1993.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation with local residents will be undertaken by the relevant agencies prior to and during the project to extend the Milngavie to Larkhall railway line.

Lewis Macdonald: A statutory consultation process was part of the parliamentary procedure that led to powers conferred on the British Railways Board in 1994 to construct works and purchase land in connection with the Larkhall-Milngavie rail link. In addition, this scheme was also included in both Strathclyde Regional Council's Travelling in Strathclyde document and Strathclyde Passenger Transport's Strathclyde Public Transport Strategy 2000 , both of which were the subject of public consultation.

Rail Network

John Young (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a failure to reach agreements with the relevant local authorities is creating any problems in relation to the proposal for a rail link to Glasgow Airport.

Lewis Macdonald: No. The study examining options for rail links is still at an early stage. Local authorities will play an important role in the provision of any such link.

Rail Network

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are proposed to address any overcrowding on the Fife circle railway line.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is committed to making special grant payments to Fife Council totalling £2.384 million spread over financial years 2000-01 to 2003-04 inclusive, in support of additional rail services in Fife. In addition, the Executive are committed to providing extra rolling stock for operation on the Fife commuter lines. The Executive is currently assessing the best option as to how to achieve this.

  In the longer term, the lengthening of platforms in Fife under the Strategic Rail Authority's Incremental Output Statement programme will facilitate the operation of longer trains. We would also expect the successful bidder for the re-letting of the ScotRail franchise, which expires in March 2004, to come forward with innovative proposals on how it will address overcrowding across the Scottish railway network.

Rail Network

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how often its railway officials have met representatives from the South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTRAN) to discuss rail enhancements in the south and east of Scotland and whether the minutes of any such meetings are available for public scrutiny.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Executive rail officials have attended meetings of South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTRAN) to discuss a wide range of issues. The minutes of those meetings are the property of SESTRAN. SESTRAN is also a partner with the Scottish Executive in the Scottish Strategic Rail study and a key stakeholder in the study into rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports.

Road Safety

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce additional safety measures or reduce traffic speed on the A84 through Doune and Blair Drummond.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has no plans to introduce any additional safety measures or to reduce speed limits on the A84 through Doune and Blair Drummond.

Road Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set Strathclyde Police in respect of reducing the number of road accidents and how any such targets will be achieved.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scottish police forces were set a number of jointly agreed national road safety targets in May 2001, to be achieved by 2003-04:

  A reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 18%.

  A reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured by 25%.

  A reduction in the slight casualty rate by 4%.

  These are part of a range of targets set following consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and Conveners of Police Authorities. Progress towards the targets will be monitored jointly by forces, police authorities and the Executive, but it will be for each force to decide how best to contribute to the national targets, taking account of local needs and priorities and the contribution that can be made by other bodies.

Roads

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the gritting and snow clearance undertaken by Amey Highways Ltd on the A1 on 30 December 2001 and whether it has any access to independent information about the performance of the contractors.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has access to records which Amey Highways Ltd is required to keep showing all winter maintenance operations carried out each day. Independent information on Amey's performance is provided by the Performance Audit Group.

Roads

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct the trunk road maintenance contractors to make it a priority to take all reasonable steps to keep roads clear and safe when fulfilling the terms of its winter maintenance trunk roads contracts.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a requirement of the Term Contract for Management and Maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network.

School Buildings

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1O-3907 and S1W-20775 by Mr Jack McConnell and Nicol Stephen on 4 October 2001 and 7 January 2002 respectively, whether local authorities which are not successful in whole or in part in the bidding process for funding to improve school buildings will be able to submit further bids in any future bidding rounds.

Nicol Stephen: First round bids had to be submitted by 14 December 2001 and there is a deadline of 30 September 2002 for second round bids. Scottish Executive Education Department circular 8/2001 indicated that "there may be some constraint on the extent to which unsuccessful first round bids can be reconsidered in the second round". This remains the position.

School Meals

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the (a) provision of and (b) eligibility of children for free school meals, what information it has received concerning (i) the number of households with children that do not receive income support but do receive (1) working families' tax credit, (2) housing benefit and/or (3) council tax benefit in each parliamentary constituency and (ii) the estimated number of children living in each such household.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive does not hold the information about individual pupils and their families that would be needed to answer this question.

  The Inland Revenue publishes statistical information about Working Families Tax Credit and the Department for Work and Pensions publishes statistical information about income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit. These publications are freely available on the relevant department's websites at:

  http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/wftc/index.htm;

  http://www.dss.gov.uk/asd/hbctb-q.pdf, and

  http://www.dss.gov.uk/asd/is_aug2001_pub.pdf.

  The information contained in these publications may be helpful, although it will not answer the detailed questions.

Schools

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils at publicly-funded schools in primary (a) 1, (b) 2, and (c) 3 were being educated in classes of 30 or more as at 31 August 2001.

Nicol Stephen: The information is not available in the form requested. Definitive information and figures on class sizes will only be available once the results of the September 2001 School Census have been validated.

  However, in order to gauge the progress made by local authorities in meeting the Programme for Government commitment to reduce P1-P3 classes to 30 pupils or less, Scottish Executive officials have made enquiries of education authorities. Due to pupil movements within the school year, the figures change constantly, but they give a provisional picture in advance of validated data being available through the School Census results.

  Officials have identified a total of 13 classes that did not comply with The Education (Lower Primary Class Sizes) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. In each case, action is being taken by the education authority to resolve the problem. Of the other P1-P3 classes with more than 30 pupils, 61 had two teachers present in the classroom and 17 had "excepted pupils", as defined in the relevant regulations.

  These figures contrast with 939 P1-P3 classes of over 30 pupils in 1998 - the year before the class size programme began.

Schools

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role rural schools play in the local community.

Nicol Stephen: This will depend on the school and the community. The principal purpose of a school in any community, rural or urban, is as a place in which pupils should receive education and learning directed to the development of their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities. Many schools also have a role in providing for other uses and activities, both for the children who attend the school and the wider community.

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to ring-fence money to health boards and trusts for the provision of services for survivors of sexual abuse following the findings by researchers from Swansea NHS Trust that abused children have more health problems than non-abused children.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have no such plans.

Sexual Offenders Act 1997

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to review the Sexual Offenders Act 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: Part I of the Sex Offenders Act was reviewed jointly by the Scottish Executive and the Home Office in 2000 and the results published as part of a public consultation in July 2001. Consideration is currently being given to what further steps are needed to strengthen the act as a result of the review, building on the measures already introduced in the Criminal and Court Services Act 2000.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Energy Conservation

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Presiding Officer what targets the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has set for energy saving by the Parliament.

Sir David Steel: The SPCB has not yet set any energy saving targets. The Parliament currently occupies a mixture of leased and serviced accommodation, making it difficult to obtain accurate energy consumption data. Energy saving targets will be established once the Parliament occupies Holyrood and baseline data can be established against which savings can be measured.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether a copy of the contract with Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament has received legal advice that the documents requested should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the tender document submitted by Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament has received legal advice that the documents requested should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer who the receiver for Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd is and whether that receiver has also been appointed as receiver in respect of the parent company of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd; what contact the Parliament or principal contractor for the Holyrood Project has had with the receiver for Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd; when any such contact was made, and whether copies of any correspondence relating to any such contact will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament has received legal advice that the documents requested should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow. The appointed receiver for Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd. is D J Manning. The appointment is only in respect of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd and not the parent company, which was still trading as at 1 March 2002. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the Holyrood Project Team and the Project Construction Managers, Bovis Lend Lease Scotland Ltd, were in contact with the appointed receiver to exchange relevant information, immediately following the demise of Flour City Architectural Metals (UK) Ltd.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer, further to his answer to question S1W-20306 on 7 December 2001, whether copies of the invoices in respect of each of the five payments will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Sir David Steel: The Parliament has received legal advice that the documents requested should not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre while the SPCB's rights and entitlements are still being evaluated, as they may form part of the productions in any litigation which may follow.

Parliament

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer how the Parliament plans to mark the 295th anniversary of the adjournment of the former Parliament of Scotland, which falls on 25 March 2002.

Sir David Steel: I will raise this at the next Parliamentary Bureau meeting on Tuesday 12 March 2002. In the interim, you may wish to discuss the matter with your Business Manager.